Heading North

The bus from Puerto Natales in Chile to Ushuaia in Argentine Tierra del Fuego is long enough to be an overnighter, but has to be during the day so that it can catch the ferry across the Strait of Magellan. My childhood facination with geography, history, and early explorers has never really left me, and came bubbling up as we crossed the strait and landed on Tierra del Fuego (land of fire) on the other side. This was the place of daring sea voyages, round the world races, mutinies, and strange new discoveries. The southern tip of Patagonia, and what was once considered that last of the unknown world. A penguin streamed along beside us during the crossing and waves splashed over the deck soaking those of the passengers that strayed to far to the front.

Our destination was Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world. A few cargo ships and several small fishing boats floated in the harbor connected to rickity, worn walkways. On an island surrounded by antarctic seas and snug against the glacier blanketed mountains, the city made an obvious location for the high security prison that founded the town in the late 1800´s. We settled into a cozy little hostel for a few days as we hiked in the nearby national park, and nosed around the town. Like many cities in Argentina, Ushuaia has boomed in just the last ten years due to tourism and the country´s improved economy. With it small beginning, even after a boom in growth, the city is still small enough to thoroughly explore on foot in a day.

We snuck out of town on the 5:30 am bus as the pounding rain became thick snow. We crossed the island and loaded the ferry at the Strait of Magellan. This time we were not allowed to exit the bus while on the ferry because of the waves that splashed over the boat and bus, and caused the bus to sway in the manner of a Disney World ride.

We arrived that afternoon in Rio Gallegos where we have been for a couple of days looking at museums, eatting our last Argentine pasteries and empanadas, and waiting for my bus, and my parents plane that signal the end of our time in Patagonia. The 16 hour bus ride will take me north along the Atlantic coast to Puerto Madryn from where my plane leaves.

There is a spiny bush in Patagonia that bears a small blue fruit called the Calafate berry. It is a firmly held belief in Patagonia that if one eats the Calafate berry she will return to Patagonia. Around the town of Gan Gan there grows quite a few of these bushes that the birds, lizards, and some lizards scientists all eat from during the hot summer days. So this is not "adios" but merely "hasta luego" (until later).

Welcome to Chile

Last week (the days are starting to blend) the parents and I hopped on a bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales which is a Pacific coast town in Chile. Because I had over stayed my 90 day visa free welcome in Argentina I would have to pay a 50 peso (about 17 US dollars) fee to leave the country. The official at the office in Puerto Madryn had informed me that I could pay this without problems at the border. Not so. The bus stopped at the border office, all the passengers got out and got thier passports stamped and reborded the bus. I, however, was told that I could not pay the fee there, so my parents and I, to the surprise of the other bus passengers, stayed there as the bus continued on.
It turned out that I would have to go to a nearby town to pay the fee and the nice officer ordered two other officers to escort me and one parent there in a National Guard vehicle. Mom and I were driven all over the muddy streets of Rio Turbio until I was sure we were headed no where near a National Guard office, when a white cement building appeared among the small wooden houses and we got out. We were taken into a back room where two officers took down my passport number about a hundred times, passed my passport around to three other officers, and rarely spoke to me at all until we broke the ice by making jokes about the amount of paper work in government jobs. Turns out that is a headache here as well. After paying my fee we were driven back to the border where we were informed that another bus would probably pass through in about 3 hours. Fortunently a nice Chilean man named Angel drove by a few minutes later and offered us a ride. So we hopped into his beat up 16 passenger van and were on our way. Turned out Angel was from Puerto Natales so instead of just dropping us of there he gave us a tour of the town including his mothe´s house, the house where he was born, the plaza, his favorite fishing spot in the harbor, and the meat market. The tour ended at the house of a child hood friend whose mother now ran a sort of hostel from the upper story bed rooms. That night we slept the softest beds ever pilled high with quilts and afgans. Lovely.

The next day we took a bus and a boat to where we would start our hike around the Torres del Paine. The day was sunny and bright and we had high hopes of another perfect hike. The weather soon became more normal for the area and we ended up not seeing the towers the entire time we slogged around them in the rain and snow. It wasn´t all bad though. The area was still lovely with the mountains, lakes and narrow forests squeezed inbetween, and as the area is a popular destination for international trekkers there are several hostels along the route as well. We didn´t pay the big bucks to sleep inside but as campers we still were granted enterance to these warm, rustic buildings where we could dry infront of wood fires, fix our meals, and rub shoulders with world travelers from places like Switzerland, Korea, Israel, and the Czek Republic.

Tonight we are back in Puerto Natales for a short while before heading on to Tierra del Fuego. Just long enough to eat seafood, dry our gear, and sleep one more night in those amazing beds.

Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, i.e. oh, bliss

Saturday found me in the window seat of a plane flying south along the Andes starring intently out at the masses of snowy peaks. After almost a full two hours of amazing alpine landscapes there was a jagged split in the snow and the teethy grin of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre welcomed me to Southern Patagonia. We spent three days hiking around the spires and glaciers of these peaks on what might just be the most enjoyable backpacking trips of my life. We were blessed with three days of clear cold weather in a land that is famous for its unpredictably and bad rain storms. The valleys were turning their fall colors around clear alpine lakes boarded by glacier blanketed mountains. And to top it all off, the immense and dramatic towers of Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, and neighboring spires were our constant companions. We rounded the last day off with a pre-dawn hike up a snowy ridge to watch the first rays of morning sun light up the east face of Fitz Roy, and then hiked out to the snug quiet valley town of El Chalten to catch the bus back to El Calafate. Here we have merged once again with the tour bus crowds and postcard stands for a short while inorder to go and see the impressive Perito Mereno Glacier. We head off to Chile and Puerto Natales tomorrow to see more granite spires by the name of Torres del Paine.

I am adjusting to life as a temporary only child, interpreter, and nature guide. Life is good.

Happy Birthday Mom!

My Mom turned, well, a year older, today. We spent the day riding the beautiful and fun trails in Bosque de Arrayanes national park. The rain has left us and the lake district is shinning in all of its glory. We bought her some more chocolate (another thing the lake district is famous for) at the store we had decided was the best after a long and thorough testing of all of the local chocolate shops. Afterwards we ate dinner at a great retaurant specializing in Patagonian cuisine, finishing off the meal with some flan and dulce de leche. Oh how I will miss that dessert.

In the morning we fly south to El Calafate from where we will travel to El Chalten to start our hike around Fitz Roy. It might not be very cool to hang out with ones parents, but I am not complaining.

P.S. I am not having any luck uploading photos on these computers in town, so you will all just have to look forward to a shmorgasborg of photos in a couple weeks.

P.P.S. Good luck to all of you in the finals push right now.

Rainy Days

Back in dusty Puerto Madryn I often wished for a good rainy day. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for. The parental unit and I are now camping in Villa de la Angostura just outside a national park near Bariloche, and "enjoying" a good rain day. We rented bikes and headed into the park where there is supposedly some good single-track only to find that the park is closed today on account of the high winds. So we headed up the road a ways to another trail that the local bike shop recommended. It was short but fun, and was home to a lot of bamboo-esc plants that were lovely. We are now thawing our fingers and waiting for restaurants to start opening. Thank goodness for serious rain gear.

Leaving Puerto Madryn

The parents arrived safe and sound Saturday night which was abnormally rainy and windy. We went to Penninsula Valdez whith a rental car where Mom and Dad saw their first wild penguins and Dad got to experience Patagonian driving. We were also treated with a splended sunset. That night we had asado (the Argentine traditional BBQ). It was good, and VERY filling. Now they are getting a quick tour of the lab here, I have to finish packing, and then we are off on what will probably be quite the adventure. I hope to be able to write a bit, but if not, see you all in three weeks!

Big mountains here I come!!!

Katie

A Mendozan Menagerie

Hi all. I am back from a great week in the northern parts of Patagonia (mostly the province of Mendoza, home of Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in north and south America) where I went with some people from the lab for the purpose of collecting lizards. It is the kind of job where you can make it sound technical and important to the people who pay you, but really it is just a bunch of fun.

We stopped by a museum which was really just a random assortment of oddities of the area and had a "family" protrait taken. (Argentina is home to fossils of the largest cornivorous dinosaur. It would make T-rex look like a house pet).

Luciano, the boss, didn´t get in the above picture. Here he is deciding where we should head this day. This daily decision wasn´t very hard: open map, find a faint grey line indicating a temporary road, make sure you haven´t traveled on it anytime inthe last few years, fill up the tank, buy some pasteries, head out of town.
Oh, yes, and check the mate stash. Here is Nicholas boiling water for mate, the all Argentinean drink. On the beach, in the car, in the office, anywhere, anytime. The actual drinking of this bitter drink is filled with customs and social traditions. I have grown to enjoy it a lot, not for the taste as much as for the social activity.
The end of a long lizard hunting day.
We explored a mostly abandoned mining community. I say mostly, because there are three abandoned buildings, and one slightly abandoned building where some live occasionally to pump petroleum from the ground there.
Lizards hide in very pretty rocks sometimes. They are also fun to climb on.

We were in the foothills of the Andes but didn´t see much of them because of the persistent fog that hug real low the entire time.
This sign was at a memorial site to Saint Francis of Assisi (the saint over nature). "It says that nature speaks of God, don´t destroy it."
I was having very little luck finding lizards, Sarah came around the corner with a camara, and this was the result.

Now for the animals! Cows were a regular sight on the roads. The older cows would move out of the way in their own good time, but the calves were very entertaining. They would try to charge the truck as we came rushing and honking up to them!

Toads. I kissed one but no prince charming (or "principe azul," (blue prince) as they say here, appeared).
Horses. So many. And so much healthier looking than those in Gan Gan.
I put this little guy back after I caught him. He was to young to be sacrificed to science.
After this guy went into his shell he still hadn´t come out a half hour later when we left.
Any difficulty I was having in finding lizards I made up in my ability to find snakes, especially the venomous kind. This one isn´t venomous, so I held him until he squeezed the feeling out of my fingers and then put him in a bottle.

This guy is venomous. He is the Patagonian version of a rattle snake. We caught three.
This is the Patagonian coral snake. Luciano told us (as we were searching under rocks for lizards) that they are VERY rare. That day I found two, and Sarah found one other. I also found one non-poisonous snake, and a rattler. Luciano was thrilled (he had never had such luck finding these "rare" snakes in the last 20 years of this), and I was more cautious as I turned over rocks. I think I will add "amazing ability to locate snakes with neurotoxic venom" to may resume.
Tarantulas! We saw a fair bit of these as well.
Spiders in Patagonia are big and have a habit of putting there webs in sneaky spots.
I also saw desert mice, maras (cross between a deer and a rabbit, I wish I had a picture), burrowing owls, guanacos (the local wild llama), goats, foxes, rheas (like ostriches) big insects, and of course tons of lizards. Oh, and ants! There were these facinating ants in the desert that had carved litteral ant highways throught the sand and rocks and carried plant material back and forth on these little roads in a constant flow of little black bodies. They were awesome. Some time the wind would blow an ant with a particularly sail like leaf clear off the road. The little guy would never even let go of his load, but just pick himself right back up, merge into the traffic, and continue on. I followed one of these roads for about 50 feet before I found the hill. Incredible!